Calendar:

After Wednesday of this week, the regular season comes to an end. For JV, there are no playoffs so your season is over 😦 All double rostered players will continue with Varsity and I am likely to expand the Varsity roster to include a few more JV’s so we can continue to play full field in practice for training. I have posted the district schedule and my guess at the Colonial League schedule for playoffs. Please clear weekday calendar for the next few weeks as if we are not playing, we will be practicing.

Yesterday’s Game

The good:

• Some nice combinations at times
• Rocco getting that goal
• Watching JV players linking up with Varsity
• Another clean sheet

The needs to improve:

• Our intensity – against southern lehigh and earlier in the season, we were on every 1st ball, 2nd ball, etc and that has dropped – one of my main goals this coming week will be to get back to that.
• Our maturity – this goes with number one, but our warmups and our attention and focus must be higher as we prepare for games – I will work hard to improve that
• Our passing in final third – we have gotten better slipping Gigi through from deeper (Braden had some nicely weighted passes again here) but we are still lacking consistent quality passes in that final third. Harnit did have a nice pass to the top of the 18 yesterday.
• Our attention and anticipation in the back. We still have a tendancy to switch off from time to time.

Responsibility:

• All responsibility for the team’s occasional shortcomings reside with me. Each loss, each performance. The boys are wonderful and the responsibility lies with myself and my coaches to try to get the best out of them each day.

Thanks:

• I appreciate Brian Walsh for volunteering to operate the Veo camera and get the game recorded. I will upload it when I am done writing this up! Thanks so much!

Looking Ahead

• Varsity Practice Monday will be structured differently. We will work with smaller groups at a time to improve play. Details on this to be posted later
• Our goal is to improve every day. I am so excited for what this team can do in the playoffs. Let’s make dreams come true boys.

Tough Humble Together

1. It’s something we are going to try – we have to be open to change to get better. We still have some holes to plug we don’t want good teams to exploit.

2. Outside backs – Justin, Nolan, Keerat, Andrew, Noah, Kyle, Jayden, etc. – LOOK at the ball carrier. If they are not being pressured, back off the opposing winger (Dillard style) to avoid getting exposed and only go after them once the ball comes in and prevent turn. PREVENT the turn. IF the ball carrier is under duress (we are pressuring them), SHUT OFF THE WINGER (Stewart style) and make them suffer in the trap. This is the best of both worlds. In other words, READ THE PASSER as well as the winger. If the passer has time, we need to be cautious of the ball behind and wait for the pass to come in to pressure the winger. If they are under WARRIOR pressure, shut off and make their life insufferable. We will call this hybrid of approaches the “STELLARD”.

3. CDM’s – we will have one sit deeper screening the centerbacks or covering for an exposed overlapping fullback while the other jumps into the midfield to mark out higher and support our attacking play. This must be coordinated and disciplined. We will decide on this in the lineup.

4. Fullbacks – you will need to adventurous and active but also very SMART. You must read the play. You MUST pick the right times to bomb up the field (available for the overlap or switch of field). In this system…YOU provide the width so be active. If we lose possession in the midfield, you will need to recover fast like rabid wolves are after you.

5. Crowded midfield – this is a blessing and a curse. Crowd the middle and get narrow and encourage the pass out wide – then pressure blocking passing lanes. Mark out their midfielders with ours. The curse comes in possession and not getting in each others way. I want to see creative runs to get in behind the backline. Expand. If they want to play a high line – hit gigi nice and easy through on the ground and let him run at them.

I know this was short notice and not much time but I think the experiment will be worth it. Let’s go WARRIORS!!!!

We pushed and prodded Bangor, including a wonderful header from Beezo that their GK had to go full stretch to save. We tried some different things but in the end we could not break through the SLATE wall Bangor had built for us. The field was tough for how we like to play. JV lost a tough won 3-2 with two goals from Ben Taube. Lucas Parada was man of the match and provided rigidity to the back line. I am proud of them – nice job leading them Rocco!

The good:

Our backline held the line again. 4 Straight clean-sheets. It will be 5 by the end of Tuesday. Great job to Connor, Owen, Keerat, Nolan, and Noah.

Our midfield works so hard always. Dillard, Danny, Steven, and Harnit go full gas. Danny won so many challenged headers, Dillard is always there to collect the second ball, Steven harrasses and finds the ball and Harnit ran 70 yards to stop a counter. He is our MAN OF THE MATCH.

When we strung together our quick passes and moved the ball quickly we looked good and created our most promising chances.

I heard players taking responsibility for their play – Braden and Danny came to mind (others did it too) – when something went wrong, they owned their part in it. They are amazing players and were humble enough to own any mistake. We can all learn from that!

The looking to improve:

When we get frustrated, we have a tendency to start to take it out on each other – unfortunately a tough human instinct. I talked about this on the bus. Dealing with frustration in a useful way is part of maturing. We will get better at it. We MUST always stay together.

Breaking down a parked bus. Quick lateral movement and looking far post to take advantage of their shift. They really left very little space in the shooting areas so we will work on this.

Moving away from Hero Ball – the idea of hoping someone will make 3 guys miss and pound a rocket from 20 yards. This discourages smart runs and creative play. Every one of our players is a hero but we MUST link up more – quick passes!

It is frustrating not to win, particularly when you control the game like we did. That said, I am blessed with a wonderful team and great boys – all of them. We will be back at it Monday and look to take out our angst against those Blue Bombers of Palmerton.

In today’s training we talked about our truest competitor this season – ourselves. We do not need to worry about our opponents – they can worry about themselves – we need to build the strongest house we can. To do this, we need the strongest set of ideals – training hard, growth mindset, attention to detail. We talked about handling conflict within a team, correct communication, and avoiding fouls in practice which will carry over to matches. Listening more than talking.

Every position should be considered open, every opportunity out there for the grabbing. An amazing season is there to have. Will you, will I work hard enough to get it? I know my answer.

Some highlights:

1. Justin slammed a killer strike off a thru ball. It was the difference maker in the match which finished 1-0.

2. Both goalies impressed with some nice reaction saves.

3. Owen Smith was rock solid. Good decisions, calm.

4. I enjoyed the Braden vs Dillard battle in the midfield.

5. Much less fouling today – learning to regulate without the official

6. Some quick movement with the ball – 2 touch Tuesday coming up!

What we need to improve:

1. Match Fitness for ALL players. We have many fit players, but many can and will need to be fitter. Complete the training programs on the calendar.

2. Team Cohesiveness – mixing more within the team socially. Make new friends, chat with them, pass with them, text with them

3. Quick release of the ball – 2 touch Tuesday coming up. Warrior ball is not panic ball, it is like a fast flowing river, smooth, together, and on a mission.

4. Marking – this comes with communication and structure – in fairness – the structure we will start to initiate next week so this is expected.

PS: If you are a player and got to the end of this message – which you all should have….

1. Send me an email saying hi.

2. Make sure you are a subscriber to website

3. Get your physical done and loaded into studentcentral

Some hot takes from Tuesday’s training. We warmed up and set up some strange goals on the practice field as the real ones have been removed as part of the field refurbishments. We had upwards of 30 players which allows us to go full field – essential for match fitness and realistic gameplay. The game score was lopsided but there were chances for both sides, reinforcing that soccer is a game where small things are big things and can make the difference between a goal one way or another.

A few highlights:

1. Tyam had a very good game. Highly active, quick decisions, and thrives wherever he plays.

2. Coach Ale notched 4 goals of which Coach Carmona had a role in – these are highly qualified guys and they can still play at a high level. We are blessed.

3. Both goalies were great – Logan making some spectacular plays and Noah being a calm option and excellent distribution.

4. Our midfield engines are turbocharged. We have such quality – Keerat, Braden , Dillard, Steven , Owen Miller, Harnit, Adam – these guys have some horsepower and oh so calm on the ball.

5. Some hustling runs – Gigi tracking back to his own goal-line to shut down a run and Danny finishing his aggressive run forward.

6. Younger players are continuing to develop and improve. We need everyone at their best and getting better – Nolan Lutz made a nice calm move with the ball instead of booting it and Nolan Browne has become a very strong ball-winner. We need those. Adam also had a beautiful through ball and goal.

There is always more positive to say but posts can and should be only so long.

Points of Emphasis:

1. Excellence is a collective decision and a personal decision. We desire excellence. I asked a few of the players for the first time what they wanted to see improvement in. Braden said hustle and Dillard said communication and team focus. To be your best for the TEAM, you need to work hard individually. You need to RUN and TRAIN on the days we are not on the field. One the calendar you will see some workout plans with and without the ball to build endurance and skill – good for anyone at any level. START NOW!

2. Play hard but controlled. We don’t EVER want injuries but particularly not in July. If you are a second late to the ball, don’t make up for it with an elbow or stomp. Be a GREAT teammate in all things.

More posts to come later today!